Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is an excellent open-world game that has somehow managed to stay relevant almost two decades after its launch. The title was an absolute phenomenon when it launched, and the Definitive Edition — however flawed it may be — has now given people another excuse to check out this masterpiece.
That being said, not every aspect of this game is loved. Difficulty spikes aren't appreciated in any game, and this applied to San Andreas as well. One of the most infamous difficulty spikes in this game has to be flight school, which is a mandatory part of the game. The fact that this school is the only one in the game that isn't optional is a huge source of annoyance for most players.
Thankfully, with a few pointers, most players can find this task to be somewhat manageable.
6 Practice Flying Around Before Attempting The School
It's possible that most players have already tried flying around in San Andreas before going to flight school. However, in the event that you haven't, it's important to get some practice beforehand so that you don't end up getting caught off-guard due to the complexity of some of the tests in this school.
While most players can use flight school as an excuse to mess around with the planes and helicopters to get a basic idea of how to move around, it's simply more convenient to apply these learnings through the practical use of these vehicles in the game instead. Of course, there are several legitimate ways to procure these aircraft in the game.
5 Use Cheats To Experiment With Different Aircraft Outside Of A Main Save
Some players might find it rather challenging to get access to a bunch of aircraft in the game well before they're supposed to. Thankfully, there's an alternative that these players can use to try out as many planes and helicopters they can get their hands on with the greatest of ease.
San Andreas is famous for having a ton of cheats, including the ones that can spawn a bunch of vehicles out of thin air. It's prudent to use these cheats and spawn the vehicles that players want to practice in instead of searching for them all over the map. Players who don't want their main saves to be impacted can choose to try these vehicles out on a different save as well!
4 Failing A Test Isn't The End Of The World
Failing to accomplish a test in flight school can be pretty frustrating at times. This is especially true for some of the longer tests, where a player's efforts can feel completely fruitless at times. However, this should not be a source of discouragement at all.
It's close to impossible to pass any of the tougher flight school tests in one go. Taking these opportunities to learn about the course and figuring out how to succeed on the next try is paramount to flying through these tests without facing too many frustrations in the process.
3 There's No Need To Go Beyond A Bronze Medal
The completionist in most players might force them to try a course over and over again until they get the gold medal. While this might be great to get some new planes in the airport and attain bragging rights, there's really no other reason to try and secure these trophies.
Players need to only get a bronze medal in all tests in order to finish this school. Anything else is optional, and players who might not enjoy the tough nature of this school can choose to completely ignore it altogether.
2 Try Not To Crash Your Vehicle
Flying a plane isn't really the easiest thing in the world. If anything, inexperienced players might find themselves crashing and swerving around without any clue on how to prevent this from happening.
The worst thing that players can do here is to go completely out of control and bang their plane against a surface. For the most part, the game will just boot players back to the test selection screen. However, there's a small chance that the plane might explode and waste players, which is the last thing anyone would want......especially if they're not dating Katie Zhan and end up losing all their weapons and a substantial sum of money!
1 Be Calculative With Your Movements
It's easy to panic while flying a plane in San Andreas. After all, it's not easy to steer a plane due to how tricky the flying controls can be at times. However, that doesn't mean that players should just start moving around at random until they get a grip of flying.
Staying calm while flying a plane or helicopter is paramount to succeeding in these tests. Players need to stay collected while flying a plane and not make any erratic movements when they end up failing an objective. This is especially true when it comes to shooting down targets in the helicopter — the smallest discrepancy while angling the helicopter can prove to be a major issue further down the line.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is available for PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch.